Phoenix Suns reserves do their job again vs. Miami Heat

MIAMI - The Suns won four games in a row largely because of their bench improvement, and those reserves did nothing to end the streak, either.

The Suns' starters have held the best five-man plus-minus in the league, but each one of them had a minus rating for being outscored by the Heat when they were on the floor. Each reserve had a plus rating, with Shannon Brown being a plus-10 in 20 minutes and Michael Redd being a plus-nine in 10 minutes of the Suns' 99-95 loss to Miami on Tuesday night.

"Those guys put us in a position to win the game," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "We've just got to finish the game."

The Suns' reserves outscored the Heat reserves 42-24, with Markieff Morris leading the group with 12 points and four rebounds.

"We've got to continue to get better," Brown said. "We're getting too deep into the season with 20 games left. Consistency from the bench and the starters is what it's going to take for us to win."

Redd's scoring punch in the past three games has been one of the more welcome parts of the bench production. Redd had not scored in double digits since Feb. 20, before he scored 11 and 25 in the previous two games. He gave the Suns a quick five points early in the second quarter Tuesday night and finished with seven points.

"They've done a great job of looking for me," Redd said. "Sometimes, I'm in a position to make plays more than just scoring, too, in fastbreaks or pick-and-roll situations. It's not just scoring, but they've got the confidence that I can handle it a little, too. You can't go in with a set mind-set. You've got to go with what the game gives you."

Redd said three years under Scott Skiles has prepared him better, and he now is getting used to being a sub for the first time in his career.

"It's fun to play, whether you're a reserve or starter," Redd said. "I'm grateful to play either role."

Suns ponder Hickson

The Suns have shown interest in power forward J.J. Hickson, but he is likely to pick Golden State once he clears waivers today.

Hickson, 23, was bought out Monday by Sacramento and needs a situation where he can resurrect his career after falling out of favor with Sacramento. Golden State is down a big man after trading Ekpe Udoh with Monta Ellis to Milwaukee and getting back injured center Andrew Bogut.

In Phoenix, the Suns would have to curtail the development of rookie power forward Markieff Morris in order to play Hickson at a position where they already have Hakim Warrick out of the rotation.

The Suns considered drafting Hickson in 2008 when they took Robin Lopez with the 15th pick. Hickson fell to No. 19, where he was taken by Cleveland when Suns General Manager Lance Blanks was in the front office there.

Hickson also came up in Amar'e Stoudemire trade discussions in 2010 as part of a proposed three-way deal that could have brought Carlos Boozer to Phoenix.

After averaging 13.8 points and 8.7 rebounds for Cleveland last season, Hickson is averaging 4.7 points and 5.1 rebounds this season and has been out recently with a hip pointer and back spasms.

Back to back

The Suns have to suit up again tonight at Orlando but have handled such duty well this season, going 8-4 in the second games of back-to-back sets this season.Miami coach Erik Spoelstra on Steve Nash: "If you don't have a defensive system that you haven't built up a lot of habits, you have absolutely no chance against a team like this and a quarterback like that."